Box Score WATERLOO, Ont. - For the second consecutive season, the Waterloo Warriors have won the Battle of Waterloo, a
season-long series that sees Waterloo and Laurier's teams compete across 16 sports.
With the score at 10-9 with just two games remaining on the schedule between the rival schools, Saturday night's women's hockey showdown at Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex was the Warriors' second crack at clinching the 202-2026 series, after the Golden Hawks men's basketball team kept it alive last weekend.
They'd have to do it against maybe the hottest team in U SPORTS, with Laurier's women's hockey team riding a 12-game winning streak into Saturday's tilt. Over that span, they'd allowed only six goals against, recording seven shutouts along the way.
None of that seemed to faze the Warriors, who'd won 10 of their last 12 and were quickly climbing their way back up the OUA standings and U SPORTS rankings. A scoreless first period gave way to a back-and-forth final two frames that saw Waterloo stave off a late comeback attempt for a 4-3 victory.
"It does feel good for sure… this is a big statement game for us," said Warriors Head Coach
Shaun Reagan, who admitted the greater context of this game was not lost on his team.
"That was definitely on the bulletin board, the Battle of Waterloo, so we're pretty pumped that we were able to bring it home for us."
While the win was all the Warriors were after, they didn't have to wait until the final buzzer for a moment to get excited about. After Ell Spencer opened the scoring for the Golden Hawks in the second period,
Tatum James (Stratford, Ont./Northwestern Secondary School) buried a feed Nikki McDonald to even the score. It was the 43rd goal of James's career, which sets a new all-time program record, surpassing
Leah Herrfort's (Palmerston, ON/) total of 42.
McDonald set up
Gracey Smith (Waterloo, Ont./Preston High School) for the go-ahead goal a few minutes later, and
Sarah Hirst (Campbellville, Ont./Milton District) extended the lead to 3-1 just five minutes into the third period.
Just like in the previous meeting between these two teams at CIF Arena in October, penalty trouble cost the Warriors late in this one.
Tia Lascelle (Lancaster. Ont./Ontario Hockey Academy) was booked for cross-checking shortly after Hirst's insurance marker, killing Waterloo's momentum and inviting the mostly purple-clad crowd of 362 back into the action.
Ashlyn Kroes (Milton, Ont./Craig Kielburger Secondary School) joined her a minute later for head contact.
Laurier capitalized with just eight seconds left on the 5-on-3 advantage, keeping them on the power play. It was Claire Robinson who tied it up for the home team with the seconds ticking down on Kroes's penalty.
All five of Laurier's goals against Waterloo so far this season have come on the power play.
"We go up 3‑1, we take a couple penalties and end up 3‑3, and we could have just kind of folded a bit, but we just kept coming," said Reagan. "I thought we came really hard after they scored their third goal."
The Warriors controlled play for most of the final ten minutes, but Sarah Howell showed why she's been widely considered the best goaltender in U SPORTS this season.
With just over 90 seconds remaining in regulation, Waterloo would get a power play opportunity of their own, and they wasted no time in making it count.
Carly Orth (Bolton, Ont./Humberview Secondary School) pushed the puck forward off the draw and tied up Laurier centre Clara Chisholm, and Lascelle came flying in from the left wing to scoop up the loose puck and send it over the shoulder of Howell. The play lasted all of four seconds.
The Warriors held on to win, clinching the Battle of Waterloo and moving just two points away from clinching a playoff spot with two weeks remaining in the regular season.
"That's a great hockey team over there… that game, a few bounces here, a few bounces there, could have went either way," said Reagan. "They're #3 in the country, and we're coming on the road here, and I thought we played an excellent game."
Perhaps the best indicator of just how impressive this win was lies in the fact that it marks the first time this season that Howell – who boasts a preposterous goals against average of 0.87 – has allowed more than two goals in a game.
In her career, Howell has allowed three or more goals only five times. Four of those came against Waterloo.
"They don't give up a lot of goals, do they?" acknowledged Reagan. "We came to play. We got some shooters, we got some high‑end scorers. We're tough to handle any night, I think."
This matchup has quickly emerged as one of the most intense rivalries in all of U SPORTS, as evidenced by the high level of physicality in this game. There's a fair chance the bracket aligns to see a Battle of Waterloo playoff series for the third consecutive season, and with three berths in the
2026 Miller Waste U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship, these teams could very well see each other again in Elmira in March.
All that said, Reagan and his team remain laser-focused on the here and now. "The girls never look ahead, they don't even talk about nationals. They're just focused on the task at hand – playoffs."
The Warriors are back at home Friday at CIF Arena to take on the Brock Badgers at 7:00 PM. The next day, they'll celebrate this year's class of 10 graduating student-athletes at their Senior Game against York at 4:00 PM.
